Acceptance
by LoveBug53
Summary: What happens when Korra has a chance encounter with Tahno? slight TAHNORRA! Takes place after episode 7.


**Hi guys! This is my first LOK fic, so... yeah. I hope you guys enjoy!**

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It had been days since Korra had last seen him. Specifically, five days, if you were the type who usually found the need to be exact. Five days since she had last seen the crestfallen expression on Tahno's face, and the way he carried his self as he began to walk away from her, sending her this small, forced joke of a smile, a bit of his usual smugness hidden within each syllable.

"See you later, Uh-vatar." This was what he said when he finally left her sight. Those were the words, though containing a bit of haughtiness, were what kept her thoughts sometimes straying towards him in the most inopportune moments. Specifically, the most recent events for her little group, ones which still seemed to shake them, giving them all doubts. She was constantly thinking of things.

Where was Amon? Why was he doing all of this? These two questions were the ones most asked.

How was Asami coping after finding out that her own father was an equalist even though he had _known_ that her own boyfriend and her friends, even, were all benders themselves?

How would Korra _ever _get Mako to notice her in the right way? Even though she cared deeply for him, Korra knew that she wasn't the one who needed him right now. Asami needed him more than she did, because unlike her, Korra was the Avatar, and she felt like it was her duty to stay strong, even if it would eventually kill her. Not to say that Asami wasn't strong or capable on her own, which she clearly was, but Korra had both of her parents back home, and even she, muscles and all, knew that it couldn't feel good to loose both a mother and a father.

Plus, it just… didn't feel right for her to want Mako right now. Especially not when she had so many other things to worry about, mainly things like the ever-rising revolt of the non-benders, otherwise known as the Revolution leaded by her worst enemy, Amon. An enemy which somehow proved to be even worse than _him_.

That is, another thought, quite frivolous but still there in the back of her mind, had been of Tahno's face, all of his faces, actually. Her mind kept going over the first moment she met him, watching the scene play out like a movie. Staring into her vision, she could still see the image of his face, how she hated it, bright and smirking with an annoying sense of smugness written across it in pretty cursive, much like the wisp of hair which bounced along with each grand gesture he made his hand, his sharp brows suggestively wiggling at his mentioning of "Private Lessons" .

Her first impression of him had been as bad as his initial personality. She had almost yelled an impolite "Hell no!" in his direction, and she certainly would have, had it not been for Bolin being their, listening with sharp ears, eating and staring down into his noodles in the most un-subtlest way possible. She would have cursed him like a sailor, her hard, blazing Avatar blood flowing through her veins, had her best friend not been there with her, his innocence at an almost unbelievable level, so far up the scale that she hadn't had the heart in her to ruin it. But she had fight in her, a trait which seemed to screw her over sometimes, and she had accepted his challenge, happy that she was finally able to teach the prick a lesson on dishing out crap when he couldn't even handle a simple dog, Naga, one of the sweetest polarbear dogs ever born into existence.

"Yeah, a prick. He is nothing but a prick." Korra said this, smiling to herself as she stomped towards the dock on Air Temple Island where she was determined to hitch a ride over to the city for some practice time with Mako and Bolin, the idea making her feel alighted once a great ferry made its way towards her. She stood, watching the top of the boat as it moved, churning out a thin fog of grey smoke from it's stack. Perhaps she would even see Asami that day, the thought somehow creating a small smile which spread across her dark features. Yes, in a city as big as Republic City, a land of gangs consisted mainly of benders, and of non-bending protesters shouting out their beliefs to the rest of the world, it certainly was nice to have a friend who was a female, besides Tenzin's two daughters, that is.

Korra sighed, her eyes slowly drifting to the ground below her. Staring intently at a blade of grass, the girl softly whispered, "You know, I really wonder… when all of this will finally be over. I hate seeing everyone so unsettled, especially Asami. She's too nice and pretty, and something like her father lying to her should have never happened."

Gradually, the girls voice rose in tone, as she continued to speak with herself. "Oh, and then there is Amon, that bastard, just wait until I finally get my hands around his dirty, clothed neck. Yeah, we'll see how he likes it when I grab him and hold him up for all to see, for the entire world to see. A crazed man, who with the help of many took away the ability to bend from hundreds of innocent civilians. It's sickening, really. I could have lost my bending, and so could have Bolin…"

Korra threw her hands up to her face in sudden realization. She swallowed dully, closing her eyes in silent remorse, as her voice suddenly quieted once more, slowly forming the words on her tongue. "But… but we were the lucky ones… I mean, some of us weren't so lucky when it came to Amon… All of those benders, people like… Tahno."

Her thoughts instantly turned to the third face she had seen from the boy, the first being his absolute smugness and his second being the concentration he had held while bending in the arena, and she pictured him lying on the ground, frantically moving his hands in an attempt to make them work with the element he had always before then been so in tune with, a look akin to loosing everything showing the turmoil within his heart on his face. It hurt her, really, since her own, special element was water, and she could never imagine living a day without it. Water, she had been born with it, and it had always been a part of her while the rest of the elements had come later, and were only important to her because they were what was needed to complete the job of being an Avatar. Water, an element which he had also been born with, and then stripped of in the most humiliatingly way possible, in front of thousands of people, be it the people in attendance or the listeners at home, and that couldn't have felt good for his usually stroked ego.

From his quickly deflated self image, surely now Tahno thought so little of himself and his abilities as a man, and this made Korra secretly hope, though she would never say it aloud to Mako, that he had accepted the fact that his bending had been taken away from him. That there was a little to none chance that he was ever getting it back, and that now he was probably going to feel as vulnerable as ever, but she knew that eventually with time he would come to accept the fact that he could no longer bend and persevere over it. He had to, right?

Korra couldn't stand seeing him a third time without that smirk drawled out on his face, pushing at her insides and raising her blood to a hot boil so much to where it took someone strong to hold her back from punching him hard, strait in the middle of his pretty arrogant face. She could find a reason to punch a smirk. No reason could justify punching him now, not when he was wearing that sullen expression which was probably _still_ on his face to that day. Korra knew that if it were she who had been subject to Amon's godlike powers, her fire would have probably never came back, her drive to keep going leaving her for forever. She couldn't sympathize with him as she still had her bending, so all she could do was imagine the pain he had probably been going through for the past five days, and even that felt terrible to her.

Korra sighed, watching the boat as it pulled in to carry her across the lake surrounding her. She shifted the strap of her bag, handing over her shoulder, as she prepared to board the ship which would truly begin her day.

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****TWENTY MINUTES LATER****

After riding the slow, painstaking ferry ride to the city, Korra stepped out, smiling to herself. She certainly had the time, she knew, to make her way towards the place where she would be bending with her friends. They were preparing their skills for any obstacle which may, soon, come their way, but Korra knew that she had a bit of time to laze around, maybe even take a short walk through the park, which was what she had finally decided on doing once she began passing it while on her way.

She saw a few children there, running around and laughing at one another in shared mirth, the sight making her smile sadly. Their laughter carried to her ears, bringing with them a bright, happy feeling. As her eyes moved around her, she saw a woman, pregnant, sitting in the grass with her husband, a content smile on both of their faces. They looked so happy. She felt her chest tighten with the warmth the sight of them had brought her. Her gaze continued to her right where she saw a few birds flying around a homeless man, the one she had met when she first arrived, who lived there in the bush home, as he fished in the park's lake, knowing well that the public police hated it when people did it.

Korra grinned. _This_, she thought with gusto, was what they fought for. Peace, love, and equality.

She laughed when the sudden "HEY!" of a police officer was heard, and the homeless man quickly scuttled off with the fish he had managed to catch at the last minute. She watched as he dove into the comfort of his bush, quietly hoping that the policeman hadn't seen him, so he couldn't find his hiding spot. Luckily, the man hadn't seen him, as the policeman began making his way in the general direction the homeless man had been going.

Once the officer was gone, Korra casually made her way towards the bush, smiling down at the homeless man. "Hey you!" she spoke, grinning a little, "You doing alright?"

The man nodded, obviously not all there, holding up his fish to her. "Could you please warm this for me, miss? It'd be appreciated for an old man like me…"

Hesitating for a second, Korra finally nodded, holding out her hand and blasting the fish with an incredibly hot shot of fire. She smiled, noticing how good it smelt… Aww, now she was hungry.

"Thank you, miss Avatar. Mmm… this fish smells good."

Korra nodded, turning to walk away, when she noticed someone in the corner of her eye. She turned towards the figure, immediately noticing who it was. She gasped, quickly taking in his form, before turning to the homeless man and poking him in the shoulder.

The man swatted angrily at her hand. "What'd ya want, lady? Can't ya see I'm busy eating the fish I had to brake the law to catch? Hm?"

Frowning, Korra pushed away his comment, saying, "How long has that dude been here?" She pointed over to the guy sitting by the lake. The old man's eyes followed her movements, widening in recognition when he saw the guy's back to them. He shrugged. "I don't know. He's been here off an on for the past few days sulking over there like some crazed, dingbat. If you ask me, he's got one too many screws loose."

"You're one to be talking."

"Why thank you, darling."

Korra sighed, ignoring the man as she began walking away, and up behind the guy she knew. The girl watched him, as he was sat there, his back slumped, staring out across a great lake. She took in his form, the dejected expression on his face, her heart suddenly calling out to him. She felt the sudden need to protect him, to make him feel better. As an Avatar she had to protect everyone, but as a person she had to protect someone.

And right now, Tahno was the one who deserved her protection. Though he hadn't always been kind to her, Korra knew from their last encounter that there had to be some smidge of goodness within him, and she was only too ready to find out. To her, everyone deserved a second chance, so why not him?

He had the arrogance of an aristocrat, the personality of a jackal, and the looks of a newly painted Sato-mobile. To put it in Korra's simplest terms, Tahno was an ass… but every ass deserves a second chance.

"Hey, pretty boy."

Tahno turned, startled, only to see Korra smiling down at him. He frowned, looking away from her. "Hello", he said curtly. The tone bothered Korra, but he hadn't told her to leave, so she sat down. Still smiling, she said, "The sun is really bright out here, isn't it? So hot, ugh!"

Tahno only sighed, turning to her with an annoyed look in his eyes. "Just what are you doing here, Uh-vatar?" He smiled the tiniest bit at calling her that, proud that he had caused a tiny flame to flicker within her eyes. "If you're hot then why are you out here then?"

"Uh, hello? Amon? A Revolution the size of Republic City? If I am ever to beat that asshole, then I've really gotta step up my game."

Tahno let out a short, forced bark of laughter. "I really can't wait for that asshole to be caught. He's caused too many problems to be given any mercy."

"Yeah…", Korra softly mused, looking at him with a worried gaze, "So… how have you been holding up? Are you okay? You know… you can tell me, if you want. I'll listen. Anything that you have to say."

As the words sunk in, Tahno raised his gaze to meet hers, a sad smile slipping through his dull exterior. "Thank you, Uh-vatar. It means a lot that you would say that. Most of the people that I know, well… they just don't feel that way. They haven't said anything to me, really. I… I've never been the best kind of person to hang around, if you still remember the time when I first met you. Now, after loosing my bending, I've realized how much of a jerk I've always been. A liar, a cheater; I deserved my bending to be taken away."

Eyes widening, Korra countered, "Now Tahno, no one deserves for their bending to be taken away! Sure, you _were _an ass, plus you _were_ a cheater when it came to pro-bending, but those bad qualities are all "_weres_" now. _You_ had the ability to change, even before it was taken away. Don't ever say that you deserved what Amon did to you. I'm glad that it changed your outlook for the better, but no one deserves to feel the loss of losing such a precious part of them. Bending is who you are. It's your soul, your heart… It doesn't deserve to be broken when there is already so many things in the world which can break it."

Korra's thoughts immediately turned to Mako, his cute brows furrowing in frustration, and then to his brother, Bolin, his large nose scrunching in suppressed annoyance, as she pictured what their faces would look like if she was late to their scheduled practice. She laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" His voice wasn't mad. It was merely curious, not even the least bit agitated. "Surely it's not me, right?"

Korra let out a small, girly giggle, a thing she usually didn't do, as she replied, "Naw, I'm not thinking of you… but I do know you're wishing I was, pretty boy."

"Yeah right, Uh-vatar. I don't think of big, burly women, like you think I do. I only like to think of the small, thin and sexy type. Not behemoths, like you."

Korra smirked. "Oh, really?" She leaned towards him expectantly.

Tahno looked away, feigning a sigh. "Yes, really."

Laughing once more, Korra shrugged her shoulders at him good naturedly. "Eh, if you say so pretty boy…"

Korra lent on her back, lying up against the soft grass below her. She closed her eyes, thinking for one long moment. Then, with a sad smile, the girl glanced over at Tahno with an accepting look in her eyes, and after another long, peaceful moment of silence, she softly asked, "…So, what is it like?"

Tahno swallowed, looking down at the small lake nestled quietly near them. He shrugged indifferently, trying hard to stay cool at the memories that came flooding back to him. Sighing, after slowly forcing his eyes back to her, he said, "It was… electrifying, to say the least. It hurt; I still can feel the smallest bit of pain in my abdomen, the place where your bending is, your core. The feeling of having your bending taken away, it's like… like having an important part of your soul sucked out of you. I mean, have you ever lost someone important to you?"

Korra shook her head, earning a wry smile from Tahno. "Well, once you experience it, the feeling's much worse than that one, kid."

Leaning towards the lake before him, Tahno reached out, moving his fingers in a lame attempt to get them working. When he continued, his voice had grown softer, more quiet than his old tone, and he made a fist with his hand. "See that?", he mused aloud, " Before my bending was taken away, if I had done my hand like this with the intention of shooting that duck over there with a hit of water, then it would have been hit by a splash of water. But now, now that my bending is gone, I can't do that anymore… I-I can't do anything. Now matter how hard I try, I can't get it to work."

Korra felt a few tears enter the edges of her eyes when she watched Tahno lower his fist in resignation, a wave of sadness crossing over his gaze. "It hurts you a lot, not only physically for your sudden lack of protection, but also mentally and emotionally, and it makes you wonder some things. Like, could you have fought harder to save it? How can you even go on, knowing that a whole portion of you has been taken away by some stranger, a man who you cannot see because his entire boy has been clothed, even his face, so no one can recognize him? The fucking coward, I wish I could see him die. I wish I could see him fall to his knees in surrender, surrender to both benders and non-benders for all the lies he has told, and the heads he has corrupted. I just… I just…"

As Tahno's rage began to fizzle out, Korra lifted a hand, placing it gently on his arm. She smiled. Her next words were careful, like a butterflies wings, but they held more meaning than a lot of the things she had said, even the words only said in her head, in the past few weeks. "I…I know the feeling, Tahno. I know how it feels to feel so much rage inside you, the need to let it all out. That pent up anger inside your heart. It's… something that everyone should be able to release. Even stupid pretty boys with stupid hair wisps. And by the way, I know this has nothing to do with the conversation we're having right now, but… what products do you use on your hair? It's so… shiny looking. And wispy." The sudden brighter turn of the conversation caused a fit of laughter to rise within his chest, making the Avatar grin in a victorious fashion. She was satisfied with the quick turn of events, happy that she had accomplished even a small chortle out of him.

He had been so gloomy lately.

Chuckling deeply, the once bender smiled over at her, squinting his dark eyes as he looked her over. "You know, I like you Uh-vatar. You're a crazy one, that's for sure. A lot of fire and fight for one little girl. Almost too hard to handle. I like that."

Korra grinned helplessly. She loved it when she was complimented. "Yeah, I _am _too much of a handful. Even for Mako, and I'm quite difficult, especially when it comes to pretty boys like you."

Tahno stared at her, finally allowing another smirk to grace his long, handsome face. He let out a breathy forced sigh, clearly enjoying their much livelier conversation, before replying, " Hey, who is the one coming up with the stupid questions about hair products anyway? The Uh-vatar of coarse, someone who you'd think wouldn't care for things like hair and makeup, and the other things that come along with that."

Korra blanched, pouting at the mention of makeup. "I don't use makeup, okay? Now, about those hair products. Ya gonna tell me, or aren't you, pretty boy?"

"Umm…Well, I guess I'll tell you since you are acting _so _good today, Uh-vatar…" Tahno smirked, enjoying the thought of what he was about to say. Secretly, Korra had a feeling about it too, and the idea of it just didn't seem so bad anymore. "..and being good should always be rewarded, right? Words of praise, and acceptance, and secrets like the one stating what I use on my _gloriously _gorgeous hair."

Korra laughed, leaning away from him along with her laughter for a moment. Literally, it had been days since she had laughed like this, and to know that she was finally having a good time was an incredibly good feeling to say the least. "Okay, just quit while you're ahead, pretty boy, it'll make things so much easier in the long run. Plus, it would make me not have to smack you upside the head, which, I hope you know, is something most people want to do to you... But, then I would shuffle your hair a bit. It looks clean, almost too clean to be a guy's hair. You sure you're not a girl, Tahno?"

The joking tone of her words made him forget her last comments, instead sneakily inquiring, "Do you remember those 'private lessons' I offered you before, Uh-vatar? The ones before I lost my bending? They're still open, you know, to you if you'd ever want them. And by lessons, I actually mean lessons this time."

Holding up her hands in mock surrender, Korra said, "Fine, fine. You win." She offered him a cheeky grin. "Anything you can and are willing to teach, I'm willing to listen to. Just as long as Mako and Bolin don't find out. They'd kill you before you even have the chance to get out a single word…"

With a short pause, Korra immediately jumped to her feet, remembering something important. "Shoot! I forgot all about Mako and Bolin. We were supposed to practice some today. They're gonna be so mad when I meet up with them…" Her blue eyes traveled down to the boy sitting below her, staring up at her in slight wonder. She said, "Sorry Tahno, but I've gotta go. We'll schedule those 'private lessons' some other time, all right?"

Tahno slowly nodded.

"Bye then!" Korra began to sprint away, down the street, unaware of the boys eyes which lingered on her up until the point she finally vanished from his field of sight. A long moment later, once he was alone to his thoughts again, Tahno smiled, laughing a little to his self. "That girl. She's so scatterbrained, you'd never believe she was the Avatar. But low and behold, she is…."

Reaching a hand behind his head, Tahno laid his head down to the ground, staring up for once at the bright blue sky in wonder. He smiled. "An incredible girl, that one."

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**Please review if you like it, and if ya'll want more!**


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